“But can we wait until you come back?”

That was a good question. Chen didn’t know what would befall him upon his return. He would be relieved of his power as an emperor’s special envoy, that much was certain. In a worse scenario, he wouldn’t even be able to walk out of the airport as a government delegation head.

“Did you wait until I came back for the raid of the Apricot Blossom Village?”

“I thought-”

“You are a good go player. In a go game, as you know, you sometimes have to make a win-or-lose strike. I’m not sure I’ll have the power to make that strike once I come back.”

“Oh, so it’s not time for a celebration dinner yet,” Yu said. “You don’t have to say any more. I’ll tell Old Hunter to get ready.”

“No, anybody in the special case squad will do, but don’t say a word beforehand. Search their homes thoroughly. Keep whatever you find. If people question you, tell them that it’s my order-under the Party Discipline Committee. I’ll take full responsibility.”

“Whatever responsibility, Chief, is mine too.”

“Choose a couple of the pictures I gave you-without An’s face, if possible, but definitely with Jiang’s. Give them to Lei, along with the information about Jiang’s Canadian visa. He should know what to do with them.”

It was a moment of the fish dying or the net breaking. He had to take action while still in the position to do so. Comrade Zhao had emphasized a successful conclusion for the chief inspector in St. Louis, but it didn’t necessarily mean his investigation of those connected to Xing in Shanghai. Thanks to the earlier limelight on Chen and his investigation, and with Lei at his side, he might be able to stir-fry it through the official media too. With the evidence in his hands-Xing’s statement at the temple, and then during his phone conversation-Chen should succeed in removing Jiang and Dong from their positions. Somebody would try to intervene, but the news would have spread out. A canoe is already carved out of the wood. The Parthian shot by the emperor’s special envoy would be seen as justified.

And it could be more than that. With luck, Yu might find more evidence, leading to further developments in the investigation. It might not get Chen too far-he told himself that he had to be realistic-but he would fight every step of the way. From the arrest of Jiang and Dong, Chen would be able, at least, to work his way to the solution of the An case, to which he had pledged himself.

Chief Inspector Chen had always been told to act in the interests of the Party, but for once, an emperor’s special envoy for the Party, he believed that he didn’t need to wait to be told so.

What was more important, he had been fighting this time, in spite of being blacklisted by some in the Forbidden City, in spite of knowing that his luck, like in the casino boat, was capable of changing at any minute.

And he really should consider himself lucky so far. He was not alone. But for the help from all those people, Yu, Peiqin, Old Hunter, Tian, and of course, Catherine, he would never have pulled through, and because of them, he wasn’t going to quit.

Indeed, what more could he possibly have asked for?

In a way, he even had those poets on his side. Poetry could still make something happen. It was through those Prufrock-inspired lines that Chen once more made up his mind to be someone different, someone not always politic, cautious, and meticulous, someone worthy of answering her call, even across mountains and seas…

As he walked out of the café, he looked up to her room again. She was reaching out of the open window, looking up to the sky. She did not see him.

He saw a pale moon rising in the sky.

Several lines Su Dongpo’s came back to him in correspondence to the moment.

Chief Inspector Chen was ready to go back to Shanghai.